Six Of The Best
Sep 4 2008 The Journal
Northumberland Captain Kevin Cademy Taylor Continues To Chart The Unfolding Events Of The County Campaign ...
Preparations for the Northern Counties Championship started a month prior to the big event, which is better known as the 'Big Six' as all six players play 36 holes in one day and all scores count. After the team selection we organised two competitive practice nights. One was held at our team kit partners Slaley Hall and the other at Newcastle United. County coaches John and Steve McKenna attended both sessions to assist in the build up.
The event was held at Castletown Golf Club on the Isle of Man. Castletown Links is rated number 82 in the top 100 golf courses in the UK and is a great test of golf particularly when the forecasted weather was for strong winds and torrential rain.
The team had two good practice rounds followed by a team meeting which took place in the designated team room located at our hotel.
In the morning round the thorough preparation was showing dividend and we had a 9 shot lead over the hosts Isle of Man going into the second round.
Mark Penny (Morpeth Golf Club) secured the best individual first round with the only sub par round of the day. James Curry (Prudhoe Golf Club) had the next best first round score of level par.
The wind was becoming even stronger creating problems with balls moving on the greens while players putted and this was turning the back 9 of the course into a brutal test of golf.
The average par for the back nine was running at 4 over, survival was the key. In the afternoon Lancashire and the Isle of Man started to push really hard, their front nine scores were under par, as were our players with a couple of them level and 3 over.
When the rain started the course became what can only be described as savage - any miss-hit shot was penalised with a dropped shot or worse.
The championship was at boiling point with 4 teams in with a chance of taking the title. Lancashire finished the stronger and we were pushed into the runners up spot by 5 shots this is 0.41 shots per round, so very close and a great effort.
The team spirit we showed at every match was optimised in the late afternoon, with the whole team supporting the last player out on the course despite the rain coming down like stair rods and a wind gusting above 50mph.
Team Northumberland prides itself on our high team standards and I was proud to see such commitment and support even when the title had slipped from our grasp - well done lads.
At Arcot Hall we played our fourth league match against Cheshire; the game un-surprisingly was again affected by rain, with only the foursomes being complete.
With the help of squeegees we completed the foursomes 4.5 to 1.5 and given that the singles were halved 6-6 we won the match 10.5 to 7.5.
This gives us a chance to finish runners-up in the league. Our last match is against league leaders Lancashire at Gosforth Golf Club on August 30th.
